nationals

Both sides left frustrated by Friday's rainout

September 08, 2018, 11:01am

They may have had different reasons for it, but the Nationals and Cubs were united in their displeasure with the end result of Friday night's scheduled game. For those who missed it (or fell asleep along the way), a recap: The start of the game was delayed 1 hour, 21 minutes due to rain, then started only to be halted after 23 minutes due to more rain. Then after waiting another 2 hours, 54 minutes for the rain to clear out, the game was postponed and rescheduled as a straight doubleheader...

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Game 142 lineups (take two): Nats vs. Cubs (start delayed)

September 08, 2018, 5:52am

Nationals

Game 142 lineups (take two): Nats vs. Cubs (start delayed)

After a long and frustrating Friday night at the ballpark that featured fewer than two innings of baseball, the Nationals and Cubs are going to spend a long Saturday afternoon and night at the ballpark, hopefully playing 18 innings of baseball. Everything that happened last night is wiped out, officially speaking. They'll start from scratch at 3:05 p.m. today, with Max Scherzer and Jaime Garcia on the mound for their respective clubs. Cole Hamels will pitch the nightcap for Chicago; the Nats...

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Difo making the most of extended playing time

September 07, 2018, 6:09pm

Nationals

Difo making the most of extended playing time

With Daniel Murphy now playing for another team, Wilmer Difo is getting his shot to play every day for the Nationals. And with the opportunity to see Difo play day in and day out, manager Davey Martinez was asked recently what improvement he has seen from the second baseman since Murphy's departure? "His offense. He's really staying on the ball and using the middle of the field," Martinez said. "He's driving the ball left-center field, which is really nice to see. That's the key for him...

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Finally healthy after two months, Doolittle off DL (another delay)

September 07, 2018, 2:04pm

Nationals

Finally healthy after two months, Doolittle off DL (another delay)

What would Sean Doolittle have thought, the Nationals closer was asked today, if told when he first noticed what felt like a minor left toe injury on July 7 that he wouldn't return for two months? "I would've said you were crazy," the left-hander said. "I was feeling really good, and I was pitching better than I ever have in my career. If you had told me when I came out of that game that night that I was going to have to wait two months to get to do that again, I would've said you were...

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Hellickson seems ready to return, but when will he pitch?

September 07, 2018, 1:31pm

Nationals

Hellickson seems ready to return, but when will he pitch?

Right-hander Jeremy Hellickson, who has been nursing a right wrist sprain since Aug. 16 and is on the 10-day disabled list, threw a simulated game Friday afternoon. "Oh, it went good. Felt really good," Hellickson said. "Just trying to get out there and just see hitters in the box, really. Last time I went on the DL and came back for that minor league game, I was kind of all over the place. It was good to just see hitters and get out of the stretch a little bit." One concern during his...

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Game postponed after two delays, true doubleheader Saturday

September 07, 2018, 7:56pm

Nationals

Game postponed after two delays, true doubleheader Saturday

They waited 1 hour, 21 minutes for the first storm to clear out and then started the game. They played for 23 minutes, completing the first inning and the first two outs of the second inning, before the second wave of rain became too intense and forced both teams to leave the field. And then after another 2 hours, 54 minutes spent watching the heavens open up again, then stop, the Nationals' game against the Cubs was finally postponed, some 4 1/2 hours after it was originally scheduled to...

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Martinez excited for Joe Ross's return from Tommy John

September 07, 2018, 2:53pm

Nationals

Martinez excited for Joe Ross's return from Tommy John

For the first time in 14 months, right-hander Joe Ross will start a major league baseball game tonight against the Chicago Cubs. Ross is thrilled to be back from Tommy John rehab, and his manager shared his excitement during pregame Friday by talking about his returning starter after answering an opening question about the same day return of closer Sean Doolittle. "I'm more excited to see Joe Ross today," said Nationals manager Davey Martinez. "He worked really hard to get back. Gets a...

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Strasburg not hitting high velocity, still satisfied with progress

September 06, 2018, 8:06pm

Nationals

Strasburg not hitting high velocity, still satisfied with progress

Right-hander Stephen Strasburg was able to come within one out of finishing six innings in a no-decision Thursday night against the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs won the game with two runs in the 10th frame, 6-4. Strasburg allowed two runs in the third inning on three consecutive hits. Strasburg fired 111 pitches for the Nationals in 5 2/3 innings of work, allowing only three runs, two of them earned. The Cubs managed to string together six hits against him. Strasburg struck out six and walked three...

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Game 142 lineups: Nats vs. Cubs

September 07, 2018, 11:22am

Nationals

It's been 425 days since Joe Ross last pitched in a major league game. Something didn't look right with the right-hander on July 9, 2017 when he lasted only 3 1/3 innings against the Braves and saw his velocity drop. Turns out he had a torn ligament in his elbow that required Tommy John surgery, and we all know how long it takes to return from that. Tonight, Ross will take the mound at Nationals Park again, just shy of 14 months later. He'll be facing a tough Cubs lineup, not to mention an...

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Morning notes: Robles, Holland and really long games

September 06, 2018, 8:20pm

Nationals

Morning notes: Robles, Holland and really long games

With left-handers starting for the Cubs the rest of the weekend, Victor Robles is most likely going to get some significant playing time and get his first major league start of the season. We got a taste of the dynamic rookie late during Thursday night's game, though, when he took over in center field as part of a double switch and found himself right in the center of action. Robles pinch-hit in the bottom of the seventh with a runner on first and nobody out. He grounded to third but managed...

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Ryan Sullivan: Remainder of season looms large for Wilmer Difo

September 07, 2018, 5:55am

Nationals

Ryan Sullivan: Remainder of season looms large for Wilmer Difo

The Nationals have 21 games left in a difficult season filled with injuries, poor play and the departure of several popular players. This has left many in NatsTown pondering on social media about why they should continue to watch games down the stretch. The obvious answer is that baseball is awesome and once the final pitch is thrown, we must anxiously wait like a dog for its owner to return home for pitchers and catchers to report next February. And with all due respect to my Caps brethren...

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Nats lose another marathon to Cubs, 6-4 in 10 (updated)

September 06, 2018, 7:07pm

Nationals

Nats lose another marathon to Cubs, 6-4 in 10 (updated)

They battled, just like they always do. They also lost a close game late to the Cubs, which they also have done a few times in the last month. The Nationals' 6-4, 10-inning loss to Chicago tonight felt oh so familiar to anyone who has watched these teams play this summer. Just as they did twice during an agonizing weekend at Wrigley Field in August, the Nats put themselves in position to win. And just as they did then, they could not do the little things necessary to actually win. Up 4-3 in...

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Second inning gets Cubs going against Strasburg (Nats fall 6-4 in 10)

September 06, 2018, 4:05pm

Nationals

Second inning gets Cubs going against Strasburg (Nats fall 6-4 in 10)

After a pair of scoreless frames, the Cubs finally got to Stephen Strasburg in the third inning with three consecutive base hits. With two outs, Javier BÃ¡ez singled. Anthony Rizzo doubled with BÃ¡ez scoring all the way from first base. Ben Zobrist followed with a RBI single to score Rizzo. Kris Bryant was hit by pitch but Strasburg struck out Albert Almora, Jr., to end the inning. The Nats managed base hits from Juan Soto in the second and Spencer Kieboom in the third, but have been unable...

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Murphy ready for emotional return to Nationals Park

September 06, 2018, 2:25pm

Nationals

Daniel Murphy flew from Milwaukee to Washington late Wednesday night, rode home and slept in his own bed for the first time in 2 1/2 weeks. There was comfort in that routine, to be sure. Then Murphy rode today to Nationals Park and instead of entering the home clubhouse kept walking around the concourse to the visitors' side behind third base, where his No. 3 Cubs jersey was hanging in his locker and his name was listed in the No. 1 lineup slot for tonight's series opener. Yeah, these are...

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Martinez on Zimmerman, Doolittle, Strasburg and the Cubs

September 06, 2018, 1:47pm

Nationals

Martinez on Zimmerman, Doolittle, Strasburg and the Cubs

Nationals manager Davey Martinez said first baseman Ryan Zimmerman is getting a rest day and his absence from the lineup is not because of the slide in last night's game against the Cardinals, a 7-6 setback. "Zim's fine, just getting a day," Martinez said during pregame. "Like I said, we talk a lot and we felt he needed a day today. So, he will be available later." The slide occurred in the seventh frame Wednesday night when the Nats rallied for four runs to get back in the...

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Game 141 lineups: Nats vs. Cubs

September 06, 2018, 11:27am

Nationals

They just took the official 2018 team photo here at Nationals Park, with players, coaches and club executives all standing out in direct sunlight in the middle of the diamond on a brutally hot day to smile for a few seconds and capture a shot of the team in its entirety. That is, the team in its entirety as it currently exists on September 6. Several players who will have played a key role on this team this season aren't included, because they're no longer part of the team. That includes...

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Ross on Friday return from Tommy John: "I want to compete"

September 06, 2018, 2:46am

Nationals

Ross on Friday return from Tommy John: "I want to compete"

Friday will be a special game for right-hander Joe Ross, who returns from Tommy John surgery for his first start one day short of 14 months away from the game. Ross said it will be an incredible moment because there was always a slight fear in the back of his mind that he might never get back. "You have the ups and downs," Ross said of the long road of recovery and rehab. "The uncertainty of how it's going to end, if you'll be back. If I'll be back was the toughest part of it for me. But...

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Adams launches two homers against former team as Cards win

September 05, 2018, 7:54pm

Nationals

Adams launches two homers against former team as Cards win

Cardinals first baseman Matt Adams had been in a bit of a slump over his last two weeks of games with his new team. Coming into Wednesday night's series finale against his former team, the Nationals, Adams had gone hitless in nine at-bats. He started 0-for-27 with the Cardinals until hitting a single last Wednesday. That hit was his first with the Cardinals since May 9, 2017. He also had not hit a home run since Aug. 4 against the Reds while with the Nationals. But that all changed in a 7-6...

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Nationals rally again, but lose again to Cardinals (updated)

September 05, 2018, 6:41pm

Nationals

It is becoming something of a running joke, that no matter how bad they play, no matter the deficit they face, the Nationals always seem to find a way to bring the tying run to the plate late in ballgames. Even though that doesn't always result in victory, it has legitimately become a defining quality of a team that certainly has been a major disappointment this season but rarely has rolled over and conceded defeat. So it shouldn't have surprised anyone when it happened again tonight, when...

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Opposite dugout: Cubs continuing roll toward another NL Central crown

September 05, 2018, 1:01pm

Nationals

Opposite dugout: Cubs continuing roll toward another NL Central crown

Manager: Joe Maddon (4th season) Record: 82-57 Last 10 games: 6-4 Who to watch: 2B Javier BÃ¡ez (.297 with 30 HR, 100 RBIs), 1B Anthony Rizzo (24 HR, 90 RBIs), 3B Kris Bryant (.277, 11 HR), LF Kyle Schwarber (24 HR, 57 RBIs), LHP Jon Lester (15-5, 3.53 ERA), LHP Cole Hamels (4-0, 1.00), RHP Pedro Strop (11 saves, 2.45 ERA) Season series vs. Nationals: 2-1 Pitching probables: Sept. 6: RHP Kyle Hendricks (11-10) vs. RHP Stephen Strasburg (7-7), 7:05 p.m., MASN Sept. 7: LHP Jon Lester (15-5) vs....